3 ways that LEN is Eco Friendly

“The question is not ‘Can you make a difference?’

You already do make a difference.  

It’s just a matter of what kind of difference you want to make during your life on this planet.”      Julia Hill

Are you familiar with Julia Hill?  She is an environmental activist most well recognized for living high up in a 1,500 year old California Redwood tree for just over 2 years.  She did this in order to prevent the tree, lovingly named Luna, from being clear cut.  She was successful in preserving Luna and all the trees within a 200 ft buffer zone.  

I realize that this kind of advocacy is not realistic for many of us, but we can still find inspiration in her actions.  Everyone one of us, through our daily choices, can make a difference for our planet.

 

At Living Earth Naturals, we take action every day for our planet.  Here are the 3 ways we are Eco Friendly.

Green Business Practices

How we Reduce – Reuse – Recycle

• We buy in bulk.  By purchasing our oils in drums, we avoid plastic buckets.  We then recycle or donate our drums to the local high school music department for their Stomp performance group.  When oils do come in plastic buckets, we clean them and use them for ingredient storage. We purchase our clays, salts, sugars and many other ingredients in 50 lb bags.  In most cases these bags are paper, reducing plastic. If any of our products do come in large plastic bags, we reuse them as garbage bags.  
• We have a water purifier.  Soap and body care products require clean, pure water.  Many body care producers use distilled water that comes in large plastic jugs.  Our water purifier eliminates this need.  Two filters will provide 12,000 gallons of pristine water.  
• We use energy efficient equipment.  Every piece of equipment we use is Energy Star rated.  We use LED lighting, and we use the natural below-ground coolness of our location to preserve our ingredients and products.  
• We purchase from other green businesses.  We are all in this together.  The more we support one another, the greater impact we have.  
• We use rags, hand towels and real utensils and production tools.  This allows us to reuse these supplies and reduce use the of paper towels and single use, plastic measuring and production tools.  
• We reuse all natural packing materials that we receive.  If it is plastic, we take it to a local shipping store to reuse.  We even print our shipping labels on office papers that are still blank on one side.  We just purchased a paper shredder, so we can use our neighbors newspapers for packing material…otherwise he just throws them away!  
• We recycle everything possible!

Green Packaging and Shipping

• 97% off our product packaging is plastic free!  This is no small feat.  A lot of time goes into finding environmentally sustainable ways to deliver our products to you.  It also requires a lot of trial and error to make sure our products are still the best quality for you.  Any lip balm recipe will work in a plastic tube. Much more attention and care goes into the recipe and actual production of our lip balm because it comes in a biodegradable paperboard tube.  At least half of our packaging is biodegradable, and the remainder is reusable or recyclable. 
• Our labels are printed on post consumer recycled paper.  We print our labels in-house, and we are part of a refillable ink cartridge program.  
• All of our shipping supplies are green!  The boxes we ship in, and the tissue and packing paper we use are all made from post consumer content.  Furthermore, they are compostable.  Even the packaging tape we use is plant derived, renewable, and naturally biodegradable.  If you visit us at a market or craft fair, our bags are also made from post consumer content and are biodegradable.  

Sustainable – Ethical Ingredients

• We use only certified organic ingredients.  When organic is not an option, we use sustainably sourced ingredients.  Organic and sustainable ingredients reduce the level of environmental impact and allow for long term sourcing.  
• We prioritize ethically sourced ingredients.  We believe that not only do we need to care for our planet, but also for one another.  We can do more good when we work together. 
• We grow or locally wild harvest the herbs we use .  We believe in the power of the nature world to promote health and well being.  There are many plants across the world that people utilize for personal care.  We avoid using endangered plants species and plants from the other side of the globe.  We believe in utilizing the healing properties of the plants in our local region.  This helps us to create a deeper connection with the environment immediately in our care.  

 

“You have to hold yourself accountable for your actions, and that’s how we’re going to protect the Earth. Every moment brings a choice; every choice has an impact.”      Julia Hill

 

We are in this together.  At Living Earth Naturals, we are committed to continued efforts for our shared home, planet Earth.  Thank you for joining us and for purchasing for the planet.  

One Planet – One You – One Love